Unless you’re a total noob, got hit by a ‘bolt’, or simply have ‘no-skin’, you’ve probably heard about the wildly successful computer game “Fortnite.” Like ‘football widows’ of old though, spouses who are married to “Fortnite” addicts are increasingly filing for divorce
Battle Royale
Fortnite: Battle Royale is a bright multiplayer shooter game and is now one of the biggest online games ever. How big? Many people tune in just to watch others play on streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube.
The daily mobile revenues of Fortnite has reached $2 million, and the game has generated more than $1 billion from in-app purchases alone. Fortnite has taken its creator, Epic Games, to a valuation worth up to $8 billion.
Interestingly, CNBC is reporting that at least 200 couples in the United Kingdom filed for divorce in 2018 citing addiction to online survival game “Fortnite” and other online games as one of the reasons for their parting of ways.
The Heals: Florida No Fault Divorce
I’ve written about the no-fault concept before. The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need to prove some kind of fault as grounds for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce.
In Florida, either spouse can file for the dissolution of marriage. You must prove that a marriage exists, one party has been a Florida resident for six months before filing the petition, and the marriage is irretrievably broken.
However, fault may be considered under certain circumstances in the award of alimony, equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities, and determination of parental responsibility.
Storm Troopers
The 200 U.K. couples who cited “Fortnite” and other online games when they filed divorce petitions with Divorce Online still only represented a small fraction of the total number of divorce proceedings this year.
“These numbers equate to roughly 5% of the 4,665 petitions we have handled since the beginning of the year and as one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK, is a pretty good indicator”
In June, the World Health Organization officially recognized “gaming disorder” as a mental health condition afflicting gamer who are lacking in control over their own gaming habits for periods of months at a time.
In these cases, the WHO says, there is “increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
Roughly one-third of “Fortnite” players average between six and 10 hours of playing the game per week. That’s about average for video games overall (6.5 hours per week, according to another survey), but more than 38 percent of respondents said that they play “Fortnite” more than 11 hours per week.
Of course, “Fortnite” isn’t only being blamed for disintegrating relationships. The game has also been blamed for anything from “extremely tired” students to violent behavior in children.
The CNBC article is here.